Type I juvenile, or insulin-dependent, diabetes occurs when the body is unable to produce enough insulin to survive. According to the American Diabetes Association, 5 to 10 percent of all cases of diabetes are the juvenile type. Type I diabetes is referred to as "juvenile" due to its being diagnosed early in life--anytime from infancy to teens. This is a chronic, lifelong condition that requires ongoing treatment with medication.
Insulin
Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas. When an individual has diabetes, the pancreas does not produce adequate amounts of this hormone necessary to process sugar or glucose in the cells, originating from starches and other foods. According the American Heart Association, Type I diabetes is an extremely serious condition that requires constant monitoring of glucose levels, and left untreated or mismanaged, it can result in heart disease, blindness, nerve damage and kidney failure.
Immune System
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation has discovered a link between the immune system cellular damage in Type I diabetes and disease reversal in mice studies. Type I diabetes is caused by the body's attack on its own cells, thinking that foreign invading cells need to be eliminated. Of course these "foreign invading cells" are actually the excess glucose stores in the blood due to the body's inability to produce a counter-glucose processing hormone known as insulin. This causes a chain reaction in which the cells self-destruct and make the body more susceptible to disease.
Family History
There is significant empirical evidence indicating that family history and genetic markers for type I diabetes link this disease with predisposition. The American Diabetes Association has concluded, however, that genetic disposition is only part of the problem. Something in the environment must trigger type 1 diabetes. For example, cold weather, viruses and poor diet all contribute to the onset of the disease. In cold weather climates, children are more susceptible to contracting a virus, which in those with a family history of type 1 diabetes, can be a trigger. Poor diet with a lack of nutritious immune-boosting foods, and the lack of gained immunity from breastfeeding when an infant is instead, bottle fed from birth, seem to leave the infant or toddler's immune system compromised and more likely to develop symptoms of diabetes.
